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David Hovey • Base Set
#18
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Tommy is an early game bully boy for the Law Dogs. His stats are nothing to write home about, but he is notable as the only Law Dog Stud without an upkeep cost. Like the majority of the Law Dogs, he has the Deputy Keyword, which is currently only useful with Rafi Hamid's ability.
With only a single stud bullet, he's not an amazing fighter, but his trait does give him an edge over similarly priced dudes. This increases your hand rank against a cheatin' opponent, and even further if your hand is legal. This can allow him to punch above his weight, but is more useful in the early game where an opponent's bullets might not be good enough to prevent them from accidentally cheating. If your opponent has the option, it becomes a simple numbers game - If cheating will improve your hand rank by at least 2, you lose nothing - if it will increase your rank by 1, you gain nothing, and if it increases it by 3 or more, you definitely come out ahead. This can be played to your advantage however, if you also have some nasty Cheatin' Resolutions such as Coachwhip! in your deck as well.
As its a trait, it is always working so long as Tommy is in the Shootout, so can be used multiple time per turn and can also be combined with other Law Dog Traits that punish cheating, such as Lucinda "Lucy" Clover, Philip Swinford and Sheriff Dave Montreal.
Tommy makes a good starter for Law Dogs, due to his reasonable cost and ability to fight. He can start exerting his influence over the town from turn 1 and take part in some early shootouts. Like all low value dudes, he is vulnerable to Shotguns and the like, but otherwise he's a good all rounder who can do a bit of ever thing.